Assembly system and method for drawers or shelves

ABSTRACT

A front part ( 30 ) of a shelf or drawer applicable to other three sides to form a rectangular frame is described, comprising
         a surface in use facing the center of the drawer or shelf,   an elongated support ( 60 ) protruding from the surface adapted to support a bottom plane of the shelf or drawer,   the surface comprising a projecting element ( 54 ) coupled to the elongated support through the insertion of the protruding element into a complementary longitudinal cavity ( 58 ) present in the protruding support.

The invention mainly relates to a mounting system and method for shelves or drawers for furniture.

Shelves or drawers for furniture, especially wooden ones, are built by combining four sides to create a square or rectangular frame that supports a bottom plane. A common technique is to form a C-shaped piece by fixing three sides together, the bottom and the sides of the drawer or shelf, and then join the front side.

The front side is often only a wooden board, fixed to the C with some anchoring elements. To support the bottom plane, on the surface of the table facing the inside of the drawer there is fitted a section bar, which will serve as a support for an edge of the shelf.

Currently the section bar is attached to the board by means of bushings pressure-inserted into holes of the board, but this mounting method has several drawbacks. The bushings are very expensive, and the drilling of the board must be very precise. If only a hole is misaligned or out of pitch, the assembly may be compromised.

Improving this state of the art is the main object of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims, in which the dependent ones define advantageous variants.

Another object is to provide a shelf or drawer of the above mentioned type that is simple to produce and easy to assemble.

Another object is to provide a shelf or drawer of the above mentioned type that is cheap to produce.

Another object is to provide an assembly method for a shelf or drawer of the above mentioned type that is simple and easy to implement.

An aspect of the invention relates to an assembly method for applying to the front piece of a shelf or drawer a protruding support adapted to support a bottom plane of the shelf or drawer, with the steps of

applying two or more dowels cantilevered on a surface of the shelf or drawer aligning them along an axis,

coupling the protruding support to the dowels by inserting the dowels in sequence into a complementary cavity present in the support.

An aspect of the invention relates to a front part of a shelf or drawer applicable to other three sides to form a rectangular frame, comprising

a surface in use facing the center of the drawer or shelf,

an elongated support protruding from the surface adapted to support a bottom plane of the shelf or drawer,

the surface comprising an element protruding and coupled to the elongated support through the insertion of the protruding element into a complementary longitudinal cavity present in the protruding support.

As a preferred variant, the surface comprises two or more protruding elements aligned along an axis and coupled to the elongated support through the insertion of the protruding elements into a complementary longitudinal cavity present in the protruding support.

As a preferred variant, said surface is flat.

As a preferred variant the elongated support is a section bar, e.g. made of plastic or metal.

As a preferred variant, the elongated support comprises a longitudinal groove which extends parallel to the longitudinal cavity so as to face—in use—the bottom plane.

As a preferred variant, the cavity of the elongated support and/or the longitudinal groove has a T-shaped cross-section.

As a preferred variant, the cavity of the elongated support and/or the longitudinal groove extends substantially across the entire length of the elongated support.

As a preferred variant, one or each protruding element is a dowel applied to said surface, e.g. screwed.

As a preferred variant, the cross-section of the protruding elements comprises a portion with smaller cross-section and a portion with greater cross-section, the portion with greater cross-section being the one more distant from said surface.

An aspect of the invention relates to a shelf or drawer applicable to other three sides to form a rectangular frame, comprising the front part as defined above in one or each variant.

An aspect of the invention relates to a shelf or drawer comprising a rectangular or square frame formed

by the front part as defined above in one or each variant, and

three sides.

The advantages of the invention will be even clearer from the following description of a preferred exemplary system, referring to the attached drawing in which

FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of a drawer or shelf for furniture;

FIG. 2 shows an exploded three-dimensional view of a front piece of the shelf or drawer;

FIGS. 3-5 show a three-dimensional view of sequential assembly steps for the front piece;

FIG. 6 shows a vertical cross-sectional view of the component of FIG. 2 taken along plane VI-VI of FIG. 4.

In the figures equal numbers indicate equal or conceptually similar parts, and the elements are described as in use. In order not to crowd the figures some numerical references are omitted.

FIG. 1 shows a shelf or drawer 12 comprising a frame formed by a front segment 14, a bottom segment 16 and two lateral segments 18. The segments 16, 18 are e.g. tubular parts with ends cut at 90 degrees to fit together. The segments 14, 16, 18 are assembled to form an overall rectangular or square frame. The bottom of the shelf 12 is indicated with 20 and lies on a plane which is horizontal in use.

To mount the shelf or drawer 12, the front segment 14 is fixed to the C-shaped assembly formed by the union of the bottom segment 16 and the two side segments 18.

The front segment 14 consists of or comprises a flat board 30 with a major surface S facing—in use—the bottom segment 16, i.e. facing the interior of the drawer or shelf 12.

On the surface S, near the ends of the board 30, are fixed, e.g. with screws 40, anchoring elements 42, adapted to connect the board 30 to the free ends of the segments 18.

On the surface S, in the center, pairs of holes 50 are made, thanks to which with screws 52 some dowels 54 are attached to the surface S. All holes 50 are aligned, therefore also the dowels 54 lie on a same X axis, see FIG. 3.

The dowels 54, see FIG. 6, are e.g. parallelepiped-shaped blocks, and comprise a portion or head 56, with greater or enlarged cross-section, which protrudes cantilevered from the surface S.

The row of dowels 54 forms a guide for the coupling of a section bar 60 to the board 30, see FIG. 4 and FIG. 6. The section bar 60 is a bar 62, elongated along an axis, which comprises a cavity 64 and a pedestal 66.

The cavity 64 is complementary in negative to the volume of the dowel 54, while the pedestal 66 in use remains horizontal.

The section bar 60 is coupled to the dowels 54 by making the cavity 64 face the surface S.

Then the section bar 60 is slid horizontally and parallel to the surface S (see arrow F) from an edge of the boards 30 towards the center, inserting each time in sequence each dowel 54 into the cavity 64.

In the end, see FIG. 5, the section bar 60 is integral with the board 30 on the surface S, and thanks to the portion or head 56 it cannot detach from the dowels 54 (except with an extraction toward the opposite direction).

Therefore, at the end of the assembly the section bar 60 can be used as a support for the bottom 18. Preferably, the pedestal 66 comprises a longitudinal groove 68, e.g. with T-shaped cross-section. The longitudinal groove 68 in use is placed in front of the surface S, oriented e.g. upwards, and is useful for slidingly fixing an element with complementary T-shaped protruding head or for the anchoring of internal parts of the drawer or shelf 12.

Note that

the number of dowels 54 may vary, ultimately only one being needed if it is long enough; and

the shape of the dowels 54 may vary, ultimately being sufficient that they protrude from the board 30 to support the section bar 60. The presence of the head 56, which creates a linear prismatic pair between the dowel and the section bar, is advantageous because it prevents the detachment of the section bar 60, but not necessary.

Even the way of fixing the dowels to the board 30 may vary, e.g. by adhesive. Or the board 30 may be made by integrating thereon one or more protruding parts, functionally similar to the dowels 54. This is easy if e.g. the board 30 is a piece molded in plastic. The board 30 is preferably made of wood.

Note that the support for the plane 20 may be a single section bar 60 or the series of several smaller section bars lined up on the X axis. This facilitates e.g. assembly, avoiding the insertion of many dowels 54 on a very long stroke of the section bar 60. 

1. Assembly method for applying to the front piece of a shelf or drawer a protruding support (54) adapted for supporting a bottom plane of the shelf or drawer, with the steps of applying two or more dowels cantilevered on a surface of the shelf or drawer, aligning them along an axis, coupling the protruding support to the dowels by inserting in sequence the dowels into a complementary cavity present in the support.
 2. Front part of a shelf or drawer applicable to other three sides to form a rectangular frame, comprising a surface in use facing the center of the drawer or shelf, an elongated support protruding from the surface adapted to support a bottom plane of the shelf or drawer, the surface comprising a projecting element coupled to the elongated support through the insertion of the protruding element into a complementary longitudinal cavity present in the protruding support.
 3. Part according to claim 2, wherein the surface comprises two or more projecting elements aligned along an axis and coupled to the elongated support through the insertion of the protruding elements into a complementary longitudinal cavity present in the projecting support.
 4. Part according to claim 2, wherein said surface is flat.
 5. Part according to claim 1, wherein the elongated support is a section bar, e.g. in plastic or metal.
 6. Part according to claim 1, wherein the elongated support comprises a longitudinal groove which extends parallelly to the longitudinal cavity so as to face—in use—the bottom plane.
 7. Part according to claim 1, wherein the cavity of the elongated support and/or the longitudinal groove has a T-shaped cross-section.
 8. Part according to claim 1, wherein the cavity of the elongated support and/or the longitudinal groove extends substantially across the entire length of the elongated support.
 9. Part according to claim 1, wherein one or each protruding element is a dowel applied to said surface, e.g. screwed. 